- TAO rallied 13%, reclaiming key support and boosting its market cap above $2.2B after bullish Nvidia news.
- Nvidia confirmed it will stay in China, lifting sentiment across AI-related crypto projects.
- AI tokens like NEAR, ICP, and Arweave also jumped, posting gains between 3% and 9% following the update.
Bittensor’s native token, TAO, suddenly sprang to life on April 18, surging nearly 13% and clawing its way back above a key support level. The move also nudged its market cap over the $2.2 billion mark again. What sparked the jump? All signs point to Nvidia’s unexpected—and very public—recommitment to the Chinese market.
TAO Pumps on Renewed AI Hype
During the early Asian session, TAO hit an intraday high of $259.2, according to crypto.news. Trading volume wasn’t shy either—spiking more than 42% to top $113 million in just 24 hours. That kind of volume doesn’t lie. Traders are clearly waking back up to the AI narrative.
The bullish spark came after Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang made headlines with a high-profile visit to Beijing. While there, he reportedly met with top Chinese trade officials and assured them that Nvidia wasn’t going anywhere. Huang emphasized that the company will “spare no effort” to develop products that comply with U.S. regulations while continuing to “unswervingly serve the Chinese market.”
A Ripple Effect Across AI Tokens
The visit follows a tough week for Nvidia, after the U.S. slapped fresh export restrictions on its H20 chips—products originally tailored to get around prior bans. Losing access to the Chinese market could cost Nvidia a staggering $5.5 billion, and the company’s stock has already taken a 7% hit this week.
But crypto’s AI sector had other ideas.
In the wake of Nvidia’s China pivot, AI-focused tokens saw a strong bounce. Besides TAO’s big jump, Near Protocol added 3.1%, Render and FET rallied around 4–5%, and Arweave outshined them all with an 8.6% surge.
Why It Matters
Many of these projects are building on AI and depend—directly or indirectly—on Nvidia’s hardware to run their models and infrastructure. So when Nvidia signals strength and continuity, traders see a green light for AI tokens. TAO just happened to be first in line.
